Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: Clay Marsha (6)
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"I don't know anymore. Who are you, really? Why is everything a lie? What do you gain from deceiving people like this?"
"Why should I tell you? You're just trying to use me anyway! If you really cared about me, you'd leave right now! Then I'll trust you! Huh? I mean it! So just go!"
"I'm asking you what's real!"
Marsha's shoulders flinched at Shirone's shout.
"Don't just say you're hurting, tell me where and how it hurts! How else am I supposed to decide whether to leave or not! You paint the world with so many lies..."
Shirone, now right in front of Marsha, raised his fist and yelled.
"That I can't even see how much pain you're truly in!"
At that moment, a fierce cry came from behind them.
"Marsha! Noooooo!"
Amy and Tess turned around. Freeman, his eyes wild, was sprinting toward Shirone at an incredible speed.
"No way! He took a direct hit to the face."
Amy was stunned, as if she'd seen a ghost. The impact of the Flame Strike was one thing, but it was impossible to survive with a face that had been burned by fire.
"Like I'd let you pass...!"
The moment Tess blocked his path, Freeman leaped. With a truly astonishing jump, he soared over Tess's head, drew his gun, and flew toward Shirone.
Rian spun around and swung his straight sword at Freeman. His muscles screamed in protest, but letting Freeman get past him would render all their efforts meaningless.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Without exception, the Slow magic took hold of Freeman. It was obvious he would be sliced in two by Rian's sword.
But he didn't back down. He had to protect Marsha. He had to get her away from Shirone, no matter what.
At that instant, both Rian and Freeman froze, their expressions equally shocked. Rian's sword didn't cut Freeman, and Freeman didn't reach Shirone.
It was because Shirone, sensing the situation behind him, had suddenly released the Slow magic.
The ability to achieve the same effect by either casting or dispelling the spell was a unique advantage of time magic.
All the while, Shirone's fist was swinging in a wide arc.
Marsha could only watch. The fist of the cruel boy coming to shatter her entire being.
Shirone's fist slammed into Marsha's face. Her head snapped back, and she collapsed to the ground as if struck by a massive force.
"M-Marsha."
Freeman's face turned pale. Marsha, too, couldn't accept what had just happened. Staring at the ground with a vacant expression, she looked no different from someone who was already dead.
Shirone realized his magic had returned. In contrast, Marsha's mind no longer held any magic.
"Marsha..."
Freeman approached with a grim expression. His subordinates, who had returned from the teleportation circle, appeared behind the building. But none of them dared to come closer.
Marsha was defeated. They knew what that meant.
"Are you okay?"
Freeman's voice was subdued as he asked Marsha. His jaw twitched, a clear sign he was gritting his teeth.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
Marsha forced a smile. Do humans become detached in the face of an unchangeable reality?
She was smiling, but most of her emotions had evaporated. It was as if her soul had departed, leaving only a shell behind.
Amy felt no sympathy. This was the person who had tried to completely destroy Shirone's life.
"You reap what you sow! Surely it's not over just like this. An ability that steals another's magic must have a price, right?"
Marsha didn't get angry. That was the nature of equivalent exchange. If she hadn't been prepared for this outcome, the magic would never have activated in the first place.
"That's right. The condition to release the Plunder is for him to touch my body. Then the magic will be returned. And the price that follows... is for me to say this to him."
Marsha turned to sit facing Shirone. Then, with a terrified expression, she spoke.
"You can hold me."
Tess frowned, bewildered.
"Wh-What?"
To think she'd wager something like this because she had nothing else to offer as a price. What kind of woman could be so frivolous?
But Shirone knew. Plunder was an ability one could never obtain without wagering a price equivalent to death.
The phrase she had to use the night she killed her adoptive father was a reenactment of a memory she would rather die than recall.
Rian, finally grasping the situation, spoke with displeasure.
"What kind of price is this? There's no way Shirone would do something like that. What happens if Shirone refuses?"
Freeman said.
"Then Marsha dies. According to the rule she set, the moment Shirone refuses, she will lose her life."
At the mention of death, Tess's words got tangled as she waved her hands frantically.
"E-Even so, he can't do that, can he? What kind of rule is this? Amy, say something. This is ridiculous, isn't it? Right?"
"Don't ask me. It's Shirone's decision."
Amy's mind was just as troubled. Shirone wasn't the kind of person to hurt a woman like this. But it was impossible to know what sense of responsibility he felt, holding her life in his hands.
"I understand. I think it's better to live than to die. I'll exact the price myself."
Shirone made his decision and walked toward Marsha. This time, even Amy's heart couldn't help but pound.
Freeman, who had been silent, suddenly blocked Shirone's path. His body moved before he knew it. It was a hopelessly pure love.
But in the end, he had no choice but to step aside.
"Please. Save Marsha."
Marsha closed her eyes and waited. She trembled like someone on an operating table for the first time, but a part of her wondered if this was for the best.
This dreadful trauma. It was a hateful memory she wanted to carve out but couldn't because it was her own. It felt like it would be a relief if someone would just sear it away with a branding iron.
"Freeman, I'm sorry."
It was the first time Marsha had said she was sorry. Freeman, knowing what she meant, lowered his head and stepped back.
Shirone approached Marsha's side.
Trauma is dangerous because it traps both the present and the future in past events. Perhaps she hadn't truly lived in the future since that day.
"Can we go somewhere private? Please."
"There's no need for that. Right here is fine."
Marsha opened her eyes and studied Shirone's expression. But he remained composed.
What on earth was he thinking? Maybe he planned to give her false hope, using her life as collateral, before killing her.
'Well... after what I did to him.'
I stole his magic and taunted him relentlessly. Shirone must have hit rock bottom. I could understand why he would want to vent his anger this way.
Shirone supported Marsha's back and pulled her upper body toward him. She did as she was told. Refusing any demand would only result in a greater price.
Holding Marsha's face to his chest, Shirone whispered softly in her ear.
"I'm holding you."
Marsha just blinked. Then, realizing what Shirone was doing, she scowled.
What kind of childish prank was this?
"What are you doing?"
"I'm holding you. You asked me to."
"Don't mess with me. You think this is enough? Are you mocking me?"
"I told you, I would never give up."
"Let go! I don't want your cheap pity! Do you think this makes you look noble? Just hold me! You're furious with me! Take your revenge!"
Due to the rule of the price, Marsha couldn't harm Shirone. But even if she struggled, Shirone had no intention of letting her go.
"You bastard! You phony! You piece of trash!"
"You're a good person."
Shirone said, stroking Marsha's hair.
"You're different from Arcane. I can tell just by seeing how many people follow you. Even if it's a lie, that's enough. No one knows what's in another person's heart, not just you. I don't know either. We just live on faith. Even if you can't trust anyone else, you can trust yourself. If you truly love someone, then there is surely someone in this world who will truly love you back."
"No! That's not possible! What do you know! What gives you the right to spout such nonsense!"
Marsha vehemently denied Shirone's words. But when she realized tears were streaming down her cheeks, she stopped, a look of shock on her face.
Even now, her heart didn't feel sad at all. So why were tears falling?
"Huh? What's this? Why am I suddenly crying...?"
How tightly had her heart been sealed for tears to flow before her emotions could even open up?
But not anymore. As the memory that had been sealed away rose to her consciousness, Marsha finally came face to face with her trauma for the first time.
It was a day when she was seventeen.
Marsha was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, as her adoptive father approached, reeking of alcohol.
Always the same situation, always the same violence.
Marsha was aware of the dagger hidden behind her back. Its cold touch seemed to freeze her skin.
"You can hold me."
Her adoptive father's eyes widened in shock.
Even now, Marsha vividly remembered the monstrous emotion filling her adoptive father's pupils.
Marsha gripped the dagger. He was coming closer. It was a situation where she had no choice but to stab him.
But in this moment, the father she imagined was different from the one in her memory.
Lifting her upper body, her father buried her face in his chest and gently stroked her back.
"I'm sorry for everything, Marsha. You are my daughter."
The one thing she had wanted to hear more than anything in the world.
The moment she recalled those words, the locked door to her heart swung wide open. A decade of suppressed emotions burst forth, and she couldn't stop the tears.
"*Sob! Hic!*"
Held in Shirone's arms, Marsha burst into sorrowful sobs.
"Waaaaah! Dad! Daaaaad!"
Shirone said nothing. He simply continued to stroke her back.
"Dad! Why did you do it! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Dad!"
The truth was, this was what she had wanted: to be held like this. No matter how violent he was, she had wanted the man who took her in as an orphan to remain her father until the very end.
"It's okay. It's okay now."
Marsha's past was shattering. It was being reconstructed into a stronger memory, transforming into hope that would allow her to live for the future.
"Waaaaah! Dad! Dad...!"
Freeman checked the time.
It was past the time when the rule she set should have taken effect. But Marsha was still alive.
"What happened? What's going on?"
Only the two of them could know what emotions had passed between Marsha and Shirone. Thus, the others couldn't let their guard down yet.
Freeman explained.
"The Plunder has been released. Shirone dispelled her magic."
"No way. You're telling me 'You can hold me' really just ends with a hug? What kind of price is that?"
Freeman hesitated to answer. It was natural for Amy, who didn't know the full story, to think that way.
But if you looked deeper, it wasn't a matter of words.
Shirone opened Marsha's closed heart. He shattered the shell she had surrounded herself with—her unorthodox style—and showed her a new path.
"Shirone didn't just release the Plunder. He nullified the very condition that activates it, severing Marsha's power. Marsha's Plunder no longer exists in this world."
Freeman gave a bitter smile. Perhaps it didn't even matter to Shirone what Marsha's true pain was. From the very beginning, he had intended to embrace it all.
'I couldn't do that... This is our complete defeat.'
"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"
Marsha's tears showed no sign of stopping. She knew it too. If not today, that door might never open again.
The countless memories she had lived in were finally sinking into the abyss after ten years.
Late Lunch (1)
Twenty minutes had passed since the battle ended.
The Parrot Mercenary Corps members were sitting down, resting, and Rian was treating his injuries with Tess's first aid.
Amidst it all, Marsha was still in Shirone's arms.
The tears had stopped flowing. But she was still trembling intermittently, savoring the afterglow of her release.